Brian H. Johnston, Ph.D., Founder and CEO

Brian has over 30 years of experience in scientific innovation and product development. He holds a Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and did post-doctoral research at UCSF and MIT. Dr. Johnston was previously Director of the Nucleic Acids Program at SRI International and Consulting Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine. He has coauthored 58 scientific papers and 35 patents.

Sergei A. Kazakov, Ph.D., VP for Discovery Research

Sergei has over 25 years of research experience and is a recognized authority in nucleic acid chemistry. He received his Ph.D. in bioorganic chemistry from Moscow State University and did post-doctoral research at Yale University. Dr. Kazakov has also been a research scientist at the University of Virginia. He is the author of 52 scientific papers and 23 patents.

Anne Scholz, MBA, VP of Administration

Anne has 20 years experience in the areas of marketing and business development for biotechnology companies. She was Director Marketing, VP Business Development at Clontech Laboratories and subsequently VP/General Manager of BD Clontech (Becton Dickinson acquisition now Takara Clontech). Ms. Scholz also has experience in evaluating biotech investments and providing management support to portfolio companies. In this role she served as VP Business Development and Marketing for CelTor Biosystems as a Venture Consultant for Windamere Venture Partners. She has extensive experience in business and product development, marketing and technology commercialization. Ms. Scholz received her MBA from Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business, located in Silicon Valley.

Anne Dallas, Ph.D., Principal Scientist

Anne has over 20 years of research experience in the field of RNA molecular biology, with an emphasis on structure and function studies. Her current focus at SomaGenics is in advancing SomaGenics’ RNA therapeutics programs and RT-qPCR technologies for quantification of small non-coding RNAs. She has authored numerous publications and patents. She received her undergraduate degree from University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry from Yale University. After completion of her post-doctoral studies in the laboratory of Dr. Harry Noller at University of California, Santa Cruz, she joined SomaGenics.

Sergio Barberan-Soler, Ph.D, Director of Sequencing Technologies

Sergio has a strong background in RNA biology with a focus on the understanding of the interaction between different layers of gene regulation. Since joining SomaGenics in 2013, he has spearheaded the development of the RealSeq® technology platform. Sergio received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Santa Cruz and completed postdoctoral Training with Dr. Valcarcel at the CRG in Barcelona.